How Soon is Now
by Alcina Angel of Dreams
Summary: Amaya is the kind of person that likes to be by herself and keep her heart away from others. But when she goes to Pandora to esacape, what will happen to her heart that will make it become unfrozen, will her thoughts change his as well? Tsu'teyXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

An escape. That's what Pandora was. It was an escape from a dying planet, awful and cruel people, just away from everything. I had always dreamed of going there since I heard of it. I read about it when ever I could. My first escape was when I began to train for being an avatar driver. But, that escape only lasted as long as I needed to be there. Then it was back to pain. Of course I went back to the simulators every now and then so that I was kept up to speed, but it was only a few hours of escape. So when I heard about the next trip to Pandora, I jumped at the opportunity. I was 21 when I boarded the shuttle, it was quite large. I could easily tell who were the scientists and who were the soldiers. They were all acting crazy. I tuned out the man that was informing me about the sleep chamber. Saying that I was going to sleep for a while. Which is just another way of saying that they were going to freeze you for a while. When I say a while I mean like a little over five years. That's five years that I'm sure that I will not miss.

**۞**

I absolutely hate sleeping. When I sleep, I have horrifying nightmares, you could even call them night terrors. I woke up in a small chamber, I panicked for a little while, but I remembered where I was. I looked at my wrists and the cuts that I made were still there. I sighed, I wonder if my avatar body will have these marks. Suddenly, the bed I was 'sleeping' on was pulled out a door from the chamber. I looked up into the smiling face of a doctor.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty. Have a nice nap?" He asked, I nodded, total lie but I will humor him. "Not much of a talker huh?" The doctor muttered under his breath. I rolled my eyes. He then floated away.

"You have been in cryo for five years, five months and 22 days." I counted in my head, I was 26. Geez I'm old. "You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you feel nausea, please use the sacks..." Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Shut up, I am pretty sure a six year old would know what to do if they felt that way. Some of us here are not children. I floated up to my locker, it read 'Saran A.' it must have been hard for them to put my last name on there, much less my first initial. I opened it and grabbed my duffel bag that had what few belongings I had in there. I proceeded to float through doorways to try and find a window, by the time I found one, you could see Pandora. My eyes sparkled slightly. It was beautiful. It really did look like what our planet used to.

"Hey!" It was a beautiful moment, but of course some idiot has to screw it up. I turned around and looked at the person who yelled at me. "You need to board the ship that's heading down there now!" He yelled at me once more. I covered my ears and head toward the direction the ship was in.

"You know, you don't have to yell at me. I can hear you just fine." He glared at me. "See you're listening and I am talking in a normal voice. Funny how that works." I said as I passed him. The ship looked small compared to the shuttle we were previously on. My seat was stuck between two meat heads who couldn't keep their eyes off of me. Talk about annoying. There was that and the ride down was pretty bumpy. Guess that happens when you're entering an atmosphere. I found myself clutching the seat belt very hard, this is my first time going this fast in anything.

"Exo-packs on! C'mon let's go! Exo-packs on!" Some guy in a weird suit said and a guy behind him repeated it. "If you lose that mask, you're knocked out in 20 seconds, you're dead in four minutes!" That's quite the big vocabulary you have there. None the less, I put the mask on, it felt really weird. "Let's nobody be dead today! It looks very bad on my report." So you care more about your report than our well-being? Thanks, we feel great now. I twisted the nozzle on the mask to start pumping oxygen. I felt the ship starting to descend, so I assumed that we were about to land. "Harnesses off! Get your packs! Let's go, let's go!" Yeah, yeah, yeah. "When that door opens, go directly into the building. Don't stop!" He said it again, for good measure and we had to wait to leave until he said so. I feel like a child. When the door opened, you could see the air difference in waves. "Go, go, go ,go! Go on get out of here!" The man shouted again. He said it over, and over again. I am not a soldier like so many of them here were. So I took my sweet little time, but I ran into something. I looked down and saw a man in a wheel chair. He was looking at me as well, he had a confused look though.

"Sorry." Was all I said. I was about to turn back and start heading out again, but he grabbed a hold of my wrist. I raised my eyebrow.

"Hi there. My name is Jake Sully, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jake held out his hand for me to shake. I hesitantly reached out to shake it. He had a very firm hand shake. "You know, it is proper manners to give your name after someone tells you their own name."

"Of course. My name is Amaya Saran, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." I let go of his hand, he was still staring at me with curiosity. "What?" Jake motioned to his hair and I gave out an irritated sigh. "Yes, this is my natural hair color." My hair was a medium purple that was long, almost down to my knees in length. I had bangs that covered up the right side of my face and they came to the bottom of my right ear. He then motioned to his eyes. "They're natural as well." I closed my eyes and turned the other way and started to walk again. My eyes were a vibrant purple that shined when ever a light hit them the right way. They really stood out though because of the fact that I had long eyelashes that framed them perfectly. We started to walk side by side, well I walked, he rolled.

"So," he's one of the 'get to know you' types isn't he. "what are you doing here? I am a marine so it's kind of obvious what I am doing here." I groaned, he doesn't get that I want to be left alone does he? "Did I say something wrong?" I shook my head. Might as well tell him, it might keep him quiet for a bit.

"I am here to be an avatar driver. I will also be studying the different kinds of animals here. The docile, and the dangerous." We were behind the group that we came with because all the machines that waited for the group to pass had started moving once more. Some guy in a battle armor almost crushed us with his foot and then we almost got flattened by the biggest car thing I had ever seen. As we neared the doors I heard some soldiers that were obviously here for a while making comments about the incoming people.

"Look at all this fresh meat! Woo!" The man with light skin commented.

"I ain't lookin' at that. Look at her." This man had the same color of skin as me. His friend turned to look at me. He let out a low whistle.

"Damn, haven't seen a beaut like her in quite a while!" I rolled my eyes in annoyance. We passed them and the light skinned guy slapped my butt. I halted my movement. "Hey girl, how's it hanging?" I whirled around and punched him in the stomach so hard that he doubled over in pain. I picked him up by his vest collar and pulled him up.

"If you so much as do that again or even talk to me, I will end you." I whispered to him. He was staring at me and I shook him. "Do you understand?" He nodded. "Good." I let him drop back to the ground and Jake and I continued on our way. I turned to Jake and he was staring at me. "Don't you dare say anything." I told him he held up one hand signaling that he wouldn't. We finally made our way to the mess hall, when we walked in, we apparently interrupted some kind of meeting. The man that was talking stopped and turned to look at us. That's when I noticed the scar that was on his face.

"Well, look who decided to join us: the cripple and the beauty."Almost everyone in the room started to laugh, that was totally mature of him.

"Look," they all turned to look at me, "are you here to talk about us or are you going to go back to what you were saying Scar-face?" I asked him sweetly while giving him a hard glare which he returned. There were a bunch of 'ooo's in the room at the comment I made. I found a seat along with Jake and the man turned around again.

"You all aren't in Kansas anymore. You're on Pandora people. You need to know this fact every second of every day." What? We're on Pandora? I could have sworn that I on Europa. I thought for a second. With all the sarcastic things that I have been thinking or saying, I should totally get my ass locked up for it. "Now, if there is a hell, you just might want to go there for some R&R. That is, after a tour here." He pointed outside the window. "Out there, just beyond that fence, every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you." I snorted softly, this guy is so full of him self. Almost everything that he is saying is a lie. "There is an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi. They use arrows that are tipped with a neurotoxin that will stop your heart in a minute or less. They're bones are reinforced with a strong carbon fiber. They are very hard to kill." Why would you want to kill them? "Being the head of security, it's my job to ensure that you stay alive. I won't succeed, that is, with all of you. If you want to survive which I am sure that you want to, you need to have a strong mental attitude." Or a large ego. "You got to obey the rules." Right, because I am totally positive that you do. I felt someone tapping my arm to my left and saw that it was Jake.

"Nothing like an old-school safety briefing right?" He whispered while smiling.

"Sure." Was my response. We sat there for a good hour and a half listening to the completely pointless rules that I am sure no one will listen to. We were finally dismissed, I honestly don't know why I was even there. We were told which direction to go to for our areas of specialties. Which I don't understand why Jake was following me still.

"Pardon me! Excuse me! Jake!" Jake and I looked over our shoulders to look at a man in khaki and a red shirt come running towards us. Why did I turn around? My name wasn't called. "You are Jake right? As in Tom's brother?" At this point, we continued to move again. "Wow! You really were twins, you looked just like each other." That's kind of what twins share. "Sorry about jumping on you like that, I'm Norm. Spellman." He shook both of our hands in greeting. "I went through avatar training with Tom." We continued on our way in silence to the bio-lab. Well, I was silent, they were not. "Here is the bio-lab. We are going to spend quite a bit of time in here. So get use to it quickly. We passed a few scientists while we were moving. "Hey, Norm Spellman, avatar driver." Okay, you don't need to show it off to the rest of this place. The scientists greeted him in return. Jake was too busy to notice this though because he was looking around like a kid in a candy shop. "Ah ha! Here is the link room, it's where we connect to the avatar." I groaned, doesn't anybody here stop talking? Norm headed in one direction but he stopped when he saw that Jake was moving toward the avatars. Norm jumped over toward them and peered inside of one of the tubes

"Hey, welcome." I turned to a chubbyish man that had curly dark hair and a beard. "Welcome to Pandora. Nice to have you." He shook all of our hands. I turned to the avatars, damn they got big.

"Damn. They got big." I turned to Jake, did he read minds?

"Yep, they fully mature on the way out." Norm said. "Their proprioceptive sims seem to be working. They've got great muscle tone too."

"I know right? We should be able to let you guys take them out tomorrow. There's yours." The man directed his statement at Jake and he wheeled himself over. "And," he beckoned me to follow him, "here is yours." I stared at the avatar that was in there. She was female of course and her blue skin was darker than average because of my dark complexion. She was kind of tall and she had some curves that's for sure. She had slightly large hips and she had quite a large bust as well. Everything about her looks were the same as me; hair length and color, stature, body shape, everything. Except for the fact that she's blue, taller than me and everything. If she was so like me, I wonder. I positioned myself so that I could see the insides of her wrists. I sighed in relief. There were scars there, but they were very faint. I overheard Norm talking to the bearded man whose name was apparently Max Patel. I must have been standing there, admiring her for so long that Max came over and pulled me back with our little 'tour group'. We headed into the link room and there was a lot of talking when the doors slid open.

"Ugh, who has got my goddamn cigarette? People! What is wrong with this picture?" Some lady was yelling.

"Grace Augustine is a legend." Norm said in my ear and I jumped. I hate it when people do that! "She is the head of the avatar program. She wrote the book. I mean she literally wrote the book on Pandoran botany."

"Yeah, well, that's because she likes plants better than people." Max commented. I can't really blame her. "And here she is. It's Cinderella back from the ball. Grace, I would like you to meet Norm Spellman, Jake Sully, and, uh..." He was staring at me, what, he didn't know my name.

"Amaya Saran." I said for him. She turned to look at us after handing something off to another scientist.

"Norm, I have heard good things about you. How's your Na'vi?" She inquired. He stopped to think for a second before replying back.

"**May the All Mother...**uh**... smile upon our first meeting**." He replied with a beaming and proud smile. Talk about formal.

"**Not bad, you sound a little formal though**." She practically read my mind. He wasn't that good though, but that's just me.

"**I studied for about five years, there is so much to learn**." I glanced at Jake who had a look of confusion plastered to his face. I would be the same, that is, if I didn't already know Na'vi. Grace then turned to me.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, I have heard that you know practically everything to do with the animal life here on Pandora." It almost seemed like she was testing me or something. I stepped closer to her.

"**I see you Grace. It is true, I do know quite a lot**." I spoke in perfect Na'vi, it was so good, you could think that I was raised with it. Her eyes widened slightly.

"That's quite the beautiful Na'vi you have there Amaya." She said, I could her her amazement, and I heard a scoff next to me which I assumed was Norm. Maybe you should have studied more. "It would be good to have you in the field, maybe you could try to communicate with the animals if we get into any trouble." I nodded my head, I have only read about the animals behaviors on Pandora. But there is quite a gap between book smart and field smart. I am still at book smart. Grace continued to stare at me for a minute before someone cleared their throat. Obviously to get her attention.

"Grace? This is Jake Sully." Max pointed out and Grace looked at Jake irritably.

"Ma'am." Jake said while holding out his hand in greeting. Well aren't you just the kind gentleman. She gave him another dirty look. I wonder if she is on her period...nope I don't think so, she looks like she is past menopause.

"Yeah, whatever. I know who you are and I don't need you. I needed your brother." Ouch, that one hurt me. Who am I kidding, it so did not. "You know, the PhD who trained for three years to come here."

"Yeah, well, he's dead." I looked at Jake, slight shock was written on my face. How was he able to say that with a straight face? Most people can't. But, if you are involved with the military, I suppose you get used to it after awhile. "It's a big inconvenience for everyone, I know that." Grace looked at him with a slight, a very slight look of sympathy.

"How much lab training do you have?" I am going to guess it was in Biology, and they had to label the parts of a pig heart. Now, watch me be partially right.

"I dissected a frog once, in Biology of course." Knew that I was going to be a little right, but that was the wrong choice of words for him. Grace looked absolutely pissed when he finished his statement. I was laughing, in my head of course.

"You see? What were they thinking? Obviously they weren't. I mean they're just pissing on us without even the courtesy of calling it rain." I snorted quietly, that was actually one of the cleverest things I have ever heard someone say. "I'm going to Selfridge." She stated while storming off into what ever direction she was going. Max got up from leaning against a railing.

"No, Grace, I don't think that that's such a good idea. C'mon, just let it be." He pleaded with her.

"No man, this is total bullshit! I am going to kick his corporate ass. He has no right to go sticking his nose in a department that he knows nothing about." Her voice faded with the distance between us and her. Max sighed and came and stood before us.

"Here tomorrow, 0800." Let's see, that's 8:00 in the morning, good thing I'm an early riser. He then turned to Jake and loudly whispered, "Try and us bigger words." I couldn't agree more. He then proceeded to walk away. I yawned and twisted my arms around each other to stretch them out. My left arm was suddenly yanked from the twist stretch by Jake. He was looking at the inside of my wrist. I didn't try to pull back, I was sure that it would have been pointless to.

"What are these?" His voice low, Norm looked over at my wrists as well and his eyes widened. "Did you do these your self?"

"They are cuts obviously, and yes, I did do them myself." I answered monotonously. "Now, can I have my limb back?" I asked, it was more of a statement than a question. He shoved it away from him like he was disgusted. Well that's too damn bad if he is. I began walking away, but before I left through the doors, I shouted over my shoulder. "Stay out of my business and we will be just fine." I left them to their own thoughts and I asked around as to where my room, cabin, dorm, thingy was. By the time I had located it I was exasperated. It took me this long to find this stupid room. How could it have taken five hours who knows. But when your body hasn't moved in five years, it gets tired quickly. Once I saw the bed, my body hit it so fast that I didn't know how I got on there. I flipped onto my back, and looked around the room. The main color was different shades of gray. Perfect, not as if I was depressed enough. About half way across the room, there was a door that was slightly ajar and I saw a toilet which lead me to believe that it was the bathroom. To the right of my twin bed, stood a night stand with a lamp and a alarm clock on top of it. To the right of the bathroom I saw my duffel bag, how did it end up in here? That was basically it, besides the ceiling fan in the center of the room.

I usually like to prep myself before falling asleep, I do it by brushing my hair, stretching, or singing a song. Tonight was a song kind of night. I drifted off to sleep singing the last note of the song, that was when the night terrors came to haunt me once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_I was running. Away from what, I wasn't too sure. But behind me, I heard explosions and gunshots. But that wasn't the worst of it. The screams are what scared me the most. They were that of pure agony. Everything was getting louder and I felt a presence looming over me. I looked up and I screamed when I felt the bullet puncture my body. The sound of the gunshot was ringing in my ears. It hurt so much! I looked to my right, because I had heard something in the trees, an arrow came out from it and killed the person that had shot me. I looked at where the arrow was shot, it was right in the middle of the persons head. I looked at my own wound and saw that it had put a hole through my stomach, blood came gurgling out from my mouth, I heard the person in the trees run over to me. The person was blue. That is when I saw nothing but black._

I woke up sitting up right in my bed, clutching my stomach where the supposed bullet was. That wasn't one of my worst night terrors, but it was still pretty bad. I sighed, closed my eyes and put my hand over my eyes and ran it down my face. I then turned to the side to see what time it was. The stupid clock read 6:00 a.m.. I yawned a little and shuffled toward the bathroom. Inside, there was already the supplies that I would need. I shrugged off my clothes that I fell asleep in and stepped inside of the shower. I turned the water on to hot. When I say hot, I mean like enough to practically boil water. I have always believe this helped prevent me from being cold. After I had washed my hair, body and shaved, I got out and dried myself off with one of the towels. I then brushed my teeth and brushed my hair until it was dry. I went back into my room to rummage through my duffel bag that had all my clothes that I had brought. I dug around until I found some undergarments and threw on a random outfit. I put on a black mini skirt with a black belt around it. I then proceeded to put on a black button up shirt. Over that, I but on a purple vest that had black stripes. Finally, I put on some knee high black boots. I looked down at myself; making sure everything looked right. I turned to the right and eyed the clock. It read 7:46 a.m.. Well better get going, I left my room and walked down hall after endless hall. When will they end? I heard voices and turned to find Grace, Norm, and Jake.

"Hey there, have a nice sleep?" Grace asked cheerfully. I nodded, you could say that, or maybe you could say something else. "Great." She then looked me up and down. "I wonder what your favorite color is." I smirked at that, it was quite funny and she smiled as well. She turned to the guys and they were both looking at the ground. Grace looked at them funny. "What's the matter with you two?" They both shrugged their shoulders. Grace and I let out a long sigh. "Anyway, follow me." We followed her down one more stupid hallway until we arrived in the link room, I should really get a map for this place. We walked in and I immediately noticed that all the people who were about to link up were wearing these scrub things. I inwardly punched myself. How did I miss that memo? "How much long time have you logged Norm?" She asked him while walking and looking behind her a little.

"About 520 hours." That's it? Wow, wonder if he'll flip out when I say mine.

"That's good, what about you Amaya?" I was in the back of our little group, so I had to speak kind of loudly for her to hear me.

"4126 hours, I had a lot of free time." She stopped in her tracks and turned to face me.

"Are you serious?" I nodded. "That's stellar! Nice work." We all continued to move again, and I looked over at Norm the best that I could and saw that his fists were clenched. You don't need to get so worked up over it, geez.

Grace then started to point at certain link beds. "You there, then you, and you," I was first then it was Norm, then Jake. She started to get Jake in his while another person was helping me with my bed.

"You probably should have worn more comfortable clothes." He said, no shit Sherlock. "Anyway, just lie down in here." I did as I was told, the gel felt kind of cool though, and he started to push things into the pad next to the bed. The man then turned to face me once more. "Have fun!" I nodded the best that I could and he closed the door to the bed. I barely felt myself moving back. This gel was way too comfortable. I sighed and cleared my mind as best as I could. When I did, I saw flashes of color that went by so fast that I couldn't even think of what color it was when the next one showed up.

**۞**

Were my eyes open? All I saw was a blinding white light, I tried to blink a couple more times to get used to it. I never realized how sensitive these eyes were. When they did adjust, I saw two doctor people in masks. That's right, we are breathing the air on Pandora, so they have to wear them. I barely heard one of their voices due to me still trying to adjust. They then shined a flashlight in both of my eyes.

After she had stopped shining the flashlight, they asked me a question,"Hey can you hear us at all?" I nodded and they sighed with relief. They then started to snap by my ears, I resisted the urge to smack them because it was really loud, but I couldn't stop my ears from moving to try and find the source of the noise. I will admit, that it was kind of cool to be able to see and hear this well. One of the doctors stood up and started to write something down on a notepad. "This is your new self Amaya. Hope you enjoy it." So do I, after all the time I put into trying to get here and everything. If it doesn't go well at all, I will be seriously pissed. "Now, we are going take everything kind of slow so you can get more adjusted. All right?" I nodded my head, that would be for the best since it still kind of feels weird. I sat up on the edge of the table and swung my legs slowly over the edge. I looked and saw that Norm was in and Jake just got in.

I felt a tap on my left knee and I saw one of the people trying to get my attention. "Can you do this for me?" I saw her touching her thumbs to her fingers at the same time. I copied the simple action easily. "Good." She put something in her notepad as well as the other doctor. "Now can you wiggle you toes or something?" I wiggled my toes first and then I put my right arm over my head, I did the same with the left one. I did this to stretch the muscles and to show them something else. I then put my head down into my lap. "Everything looks good, doesn't seem like you're nauseous either." I smirked, this was so awesome. I looked up suddenly and saw Jake standing up, but he was wobbling a bit. The his doctors kept yelling at him to 'take it easy' or 'sit down'. I saw Max trying to coax him to listen but of course he wouldn't. I sighed as he knocked off a bunch of stuff with his tail. Dumb ass. I know that he didn't go through the training like Norm and I did, but still, this was a bit childish.

"You know that they're going to put you out if you don't stop." Norm explained to him. Jake laughed and he went out a door that led outside I assumed. That's when Norm stood up and started to pull off his leads. "I have to get these off." He said to one of his doctors. Jake's doctors started to run after him. They looked pretty mad, I guess I would be too. Soon Norm was following them out the doors. I sighed once more and looked at my own doctors.

"You're not going to run out with them?" One of them asked. I shook my head.

"I am not as stupid and naive as them." I told them. They smiled underneath their masks. We ran through a bunch of other tests after Jake and Norm left.

"Now, do you have any questions?" I did have one, but I was sure that I knew the answer to it.

"Yeah, so am I right to assume that I will have a menstrual cycle while in this body at the same time as my own correct?" I asked them and a blush appeared on their cheeks. Seriously? Why be embarrassed? It happens to all girls in their life time. They nodded their heads slowly. Great, I hate it when I have it in my own body, now I have to have it in my avatar one? That totally sucks. "Can I get some clothes? I would really like to get out of this hospital gown." They nodded again and they should me to a room that had a bunch of clothes for the female gender. I turned to the two women, "Could you guys possibly wait outside while I change?" I asked them. They then left the room and left me to my own devices. Where should I start. I know. I untied the hospital gown and let it drop to the floor. I looked at my breasts. They look huge, how am I going to find a bra or something to help cover them up? I went over to where the underwear was and I put on some blue underwear and strapped on a strapless blue bra that surprisingly fit perfectly. I then found some tops. I pulled over my head a dark blue tank top and but on a tight fitting black leather jacket. I zipped it up to the bottom of my bust and looked for some bottoms. I found a matching pair of pants that was the same material as my jacket. After putting on some dark gray combat boots, I looked at myself in a full length mirror. I realized that I was wearing a bunch of black but I found a reason to do so. If I am outside of this place and am lost, the dark clothing might help me survive the night by blending in. Hopefully. It also conserves and absorbs body heat; that's a bonus.

"You almost done in there? It's almost time for you to bunk down!" I heard one of them yell outside of the door. I opened it and walked in front of them. "You look awesome!" I gave a tiny smile at that. They led me outside and I took in all the smells I could. It was so fresh and clean! I giggled. "A lot better than earth no?" I nodded, but then I inwardly frowned. I can not believe that I just giggle like a little girl. "Follow us." It was pretty dark outside yet I could see almost perfectly. I love this body already. We got to a big wooden building which I assumed was a bunk house. "Here you are! Just go into those doors and find a bed. Have fun!" They waved and I returned it back. I walked up the steps and pushed the door open.

"Well look who decided to join us!" I looked in the direction that I saw the person in. I saw an female avatar that looked and sounded like Grace. Everybody looked at me and I felt a little shy. I put my hands behind my back and wrung my hand together. "Everyone, this is Amaya, she will be here to help with the wildlife on Pandora." All of them said hi for the exception of those who knew me; which wasn't a whole lot. Everybody went back to chatting on their beds and Grace looked at what I was wearing. "Why are you wearing that you goofball?"

"It's comfy to sleep in." She laughed and shook her head.

"You are crazy." That's what a lot of people think. "Follow me." She led me to a bed that was right beside Jake's. When we got there, he was playing with his braid and he jumped slightly when the tendrils in it started waving around. "If you play with that, say good-bye to your eyesight." He mumbled something under his breath. "This is your bunk, since I know how good of friends you two are." I looked at her. Are you kidding me? Won't this be fun. I heard Jake groan a little. Trust me, I felt the same way. "Night." She said and walked off. I laid down and she turned off all the lights. Then I really got the chance to hear all the sounds of the animals. They were so beautiful. It's like they were singing a song to each other. I closed my eyes and let myself drift back into my original body.

**۞**

I opened my eyes and looked around. It was kind of like a teal color. I pushed the door up and took in some cool air. It felt really good. I then pushed up the metal contraption that sensed and transmitted all the things that were happening in my body.

"Did you have fun?" I looked to my right and saw the same doctor that had run me through all the information and everything. I sighed and nodded. "You don't have to say much, many people get winded after their first time linking up with their avatar bodies." Many, you mean all 12 of them. Sure. He asked me a some questions like 'how are you feeling' or 'are you in any pain'. He just asked me the same questions except that he reworded them. All I said was 'yes' or 'no' depending on the question. He finally walked away after eight minutes of useless questioning. I got up off of the bed and stretched. I never realized that you could get stiff from just laying on a comfy gel surface.

I wasn't really all that hungry, so I decided to just get a pack of crackers and munch on them in my room. I love me some good, non-flavored crackers. As I was sitting on my bed, just munching away, I began to think about my life here for the next few years. Would I be able to survive? Will I actually be able to find someone that doesn't bug the shit out of me? Would I get to spend time with a lot of the animals on Pandora? Will I ever get to make my own family? That's unlikely. I am not a very likeable person, so I have been told. Will I miss anyone back on Earth? I burst out loud laughing at that, but I had to pound my chest to stop myself from choking. I looked down sadly at my wrists. Remembering each cut that I had inflicted and for what reasons. I only did them for one reason. I didn't see them as bad things like so many people. They are a reminder of my feelings and thoughts at the time of the infliction. It makes me think about my past. I know some people would like to forget their past but I don't want to. What happened in the past made you who you are today. The people that were supposed to love me unconditionally, tortured me mentally. It was awful. I stared at the ground, just to do something. I glanced at the clock, it was 9:54 p.m. I should get to bed soon. I took off my clothes until I was in my bra and underwear, found a brush, sat back down on my bed, and brushed my long hair. After I was finished, I laid down and ran my hands through my hair. I love running my hands through it because it is as smooth as silk, it's the best in the world. I know it sounds conceited, but it's true for me. I sighed, contented with how the day went and passed. My eyes closed and the darkness wrapped me in it's wicked embrace.


	3. Chapter 3

I apologize for the uber long wait. I dislike making exuses but I was working and studying for my semester tests at my school. Now that schools out, I should hopefully be able to upload the stories faster. XD This chapter is practically twice as long as the others. So anyways, here is the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_Yelling. From two people. They were blurred but I could make out that it was one man and woman. Yelling at me? Why? I blinked more rapidly, everything became more clearer. Mom, Dad? My dad took me by my arms and shook me. I couldn't make out the things he was saying. He kept yelling for what felt like hours. My mother looked irritated, probably since she didn't get to yell at me this time. She tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around and she whispered something into his ear. They both smiled._

"_You're such a wonderful child Amaya. We feel like we should reward you. After all, we love you so very much." He then picked me up and brought me to the bathroom, we had a fairly large one and I saw that the bathtub was full. Panic rocked my entire body. I started to shake. I clawed at my fathers arms but he wouldn't yield. He brought me closer and closer to the water. I could see the steam rising from it. My father sat me on my knees by the edge and he forcefully, with the help of my mother, shoved my head into the water. It was hot, scalding. I tried to keep my mouth shut, but I let out a scream underwater and the water went into my lungs. My head was brought back up. I coughed and I saw a little bit of blood. I cried and begged them to stop. They didn't. They repeated the process many times. Each barely letting me catch my breath. My mother threw me to the ground and caressed my face lovingly._

"_Remember. We love you." They walked out the door with my back turned to me. I could hear their silent laughing as they went._

My eye fluttered open. I was lying on my side and gasping for breath. I stopped when I realized that I was safe. I glared at the ground, I hate my parents. They said they loved me and then they did things that would be interpreted as spiteful. I was always so confused by this. They loved me yet they hated me? It made no sense. How can you love someone and hate them at the same time. I shook my head, trying to remove these thoughts from my mind. I dislike dwelling on thoughts such as that. I brought my right hand up to my face to rub the sleep from my eyes and they were wet. Awesome, so I was crying as well. I got up and headed to the bathroom to take a bath. But as a neared it, I changed my mind. After having a dream like that, I am so not taking one. Instead, I grabbed my brush and got all the tangles out of my hair. Now me being smarter, decided to wear 'comfy' clothes. So I pulled on a pair of medium gray sweatpants, they wear my favorite because they were so soft on the inside. I then pulled over my head a light gray tank top. I took one final look in the mirror and headed toward the link lab.

When I got there, I looked for Grace and I saw her shutting the door on a link bed. I saw Norm just about to get into his so I assumed it was some stupid scientist that didn't know how to work it, or it was Jake. Probably the latter of the two options. Grace looked up and she gave me a smile.

"You know, you could where the clothes that everybody else wears when they link up." She said and gave me a light pat on the back.

"I figured, but they aren't very fashionable in my opinion." She threw her head back and laughed. I didn't think it was that funny.

"Now, I should probably run this by you since you weren't here for my little talk." She started guiding me to a bed to get set up on. "We're going outside of Hell's Gate today, we will be collecting data on some plants in some random area." She had me lay down on the bed and put the metal things over me. Now I feel like the stupid one. "You, however, will be looking out for any animals that we come across and taking notes on them. Understood?" I gave a small nod and she closed the bed door. I let myself go blank and drifted into my other self.

My eyes opened and I was staring up at a brown wooden ceiling. I sat myself on the edge of the cot and waited until Grace was in her avatar. It was a boring two minutes until she was in. I didn't really do anything because I was positive that I would have made myself lost on trying to get to where we were supposed to go.

"C'mon, follow me." I got up, too quickly might I add and I almost fell over from the dizzy feeling that it gave. "Careful." I steadied myself and followed her to this helicopter thing that was called a 'Sampson' or something along that line and we boarded it. Norm and Jake were already there including that guy who slapped my ass when I got here. Thankfully, he didn't recognize me. I don't know how he didn't though since I am the only one here with purple hair and eyes. Guess that just shows how dumb he is. I attached this microphone thing around my neck and I heard the pilot of the craft shout something at us.

"Everybody ready?" The pilot asked. I said nothing since Grace was the one in charge and when she gave her confirmation, we took off.

"You should have worn some more comfortable clothes you know." Grace said after about 15 minutes into the flight. I shrugged. "Let me guess, those are more comfy?" I nodded. I felt something plop into my lap. I looked down and saw that it was a sketch book and a pencil. I looked up and saw Grace smiling, I gave her a confused look. "It's your notes, you need to sketch them too." I looked back down and opened it. I put the date in the upper left hand corner of one of the pages and waited to see some animals. It didn't take long because when we rounded some rocks, there was quite a large population of tetrapterons flying around us. I immediately began to sketch them onto paper. I am a fairly quick sketcher so I then started to write down the color, wingspan, and any other thing that I could think of. I flipped the book shut and started to massage my right hand. We flew away from it and the scenery changed to that of large trees around us. The sketch book that was on my lap, was taken by someone as I was massaging it and I saw that Norm was the one that had it. I didn't try to reach it, it wasn't like I was ashamed of what I did, unlike other people in the world.

"Wow, this is really good." I could tell that he was struggling to be nice. Even though he meant it, it just sounded awkward.

"Thanks." He gave a small smile and a nod and handed it back to me. We flew above trees and water and practically the whole time Jake was making whopping sounds. We finally came to a patch of land that was mainly void of any foliage and landed there. Jake jumped off when we were about three feet from the ground and started to point his gun up in the trees. The 'butt-slapper' also jumped off and did the same thing that Jake was doing. Then it was Grace and Norm. I took my sweet little time to get off. I was in no rush. The propellers on the Sampson began to slow, looks like we will be here for awhile.

"Norm, get your pack." I heard Grace shout over the noise. He turned back toward the aircraft and grabbed it. The 'butt-slapper' was advancing with our little group but she put an arm out to block him. "Stay here, one idiot with a weapon is enough." He nodded and headed back toward the craft. We all have weapons Grace, we could use our body or our voices. I was positioned behind Jake in the line that we made and we hiked over foliage away from the craft. I was amazed at how beautiful everything was on Pandora. It's so cool that everything here has remained virtually untouched by some civilization. All around us you could hear what sounded like birds and crickets chirping. It was actually kind of peaceful. Every now and then you could here a howl or something, but otherwise it was the same noises. I heard some cooing behind me and I flipped open my sketch pad and got my pencil ready. I looked up and saw that it was a group of prolemuris. I sketched furiously when I saw that one looked at our group. They all jumped away before I could take notes though. As we walked, I put the color and height of the animals as best as my memory would allow. Since I have a photographic memory, it can help quite a bit. It usually only works with wildlife and people though, not places. I was so busy writing everything down, I hadn't noticed that I had bumped into Jake.

"Sorry." I said and put the sketch book back into the hem of my pants. I looked behind me, side to side, and in front of Jake, but Norm and Grace were nowhere to be seen. "Where are they?" I asked.

"They went to study some tree roots, or something like that." He said simply. This is so awkward that it is no longer funny. "Sorry." I looked back at Jake.

"For what?"

"Sorry for over reacting for the cuts and everything." He looked away while he said this.

"No problem. It is to be expected after all. It's not something that you usually see. So can we get away from the awkward small talk and just talk in actual long sentences?" I asked. He looked back at me, a small smile forming.

"So, you want to be friends?"

"Um, sure? Don't get me wrong, I still like to be by myself and not talk a lot but it does get weird if it's just silence. So what I am saying is I will be your, friend," I hesitated while saying that word, "but I refuse to be all buddy-buddy with you okay?"

"Rodger." He gave a small salute and I smiled. "You actually smiled!" I smacked him on the arm and started to walk again. This time, it was a comfortable silence, no tension what so ever. "Hey," I turned around and looked at him. "probably a stupid question, but how did you follow me and write your notes or whatever at the same time?"

"Well, if you must know."

"I must, I must." He said, I laughed at it.

"I used my peripheral vision to follow whatever was in front of me while taking my notes. It's very helpful."

"Cool." Was all that he said and this time he took the lead. We then came across a field of spiral reddish looking plants. "What are these?" He asked me, I shrugged, I am not skilled in plant life, just animals. That was a good enough answer because he reached out and touched one. Right when he touched it, it curled into itself. I squeaked and he gasped. We both looked at each other and we began to touch the plants, each time, they hid. But all at once, they curled and I assumed that that was not a good sign. When they cleared, a young hammerhead titanothere was sounding what seemed like a warning call. Jake immediately put up his gun and tried to shove me behind him. I flipped my book open and repeated the process that I previously did with the other animals.

"Don't even try to shoot at it, you won't be able to break through that armor." I said slowly while while jotting stuff down. He put his gun down and I heard Grace radio the same thing that I had said to him. I put it back into waist of my pants and looked at what it was doing. "It's just a territorial display."

"So what am I supposed to do, dance with it?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"No. All you need to do is stand your ground and don't do anything stupid." Yeah, like he wouldn't do anything stupid. The hammerhead banged his head against the trees that were around him and broke them in half. I saw Norm and Grace off to our left, hiding. Thanks for the help guys. It growled and then it charged. Jake charged as well while screaming and flailing about. They both halted at the same time. He laughed nervously. I was close behind him, looking for anything else that could endanger him since his attention is mainly on the hammerhead. I could hear him taunting it repeatedly. I turned back toward it and saw it backing away. It looked scared, not from Jake or I obviously, but from something else. It ran back towards it's herd. I turned back around and I almost pissed myself. In front of me was a thanator. They were my favorite wildlife on Pandora, but if it kills me, say good-bye to me liking it. "Um, Jake?" It snarled and he turned around and his ears went flat against his head, I'm sure that mine were as well. It jumped above us and landed in front of the hammerhead herd and roared at it. They trumpeted right back. It was actually a pretty cool thing, I would be enjoying it much more if I wasn't in danger. I started to reach for my sketch pad but I stopped myself. I have a feeling that we will have to run. "Jake,don't shoot it. When I say run, we need to get away from it. Okay?" He nodded. It then turned back to us and advanced slowly. "Run!" He took my hand and we bolted through the jungle with the thanator chasing after us. We went underneath branch after branch to try and escape it but it either broke through or went around. Jake and I jumped over logs and ran for what had to be a quarter of a mile until we found ourselves underneath a trees roots that were raised above the ground. It clawed at us between the gaps, the claws on one paw raked against my right leg and I screamed in pain. I covered my hand over it to try and stop the bleeding, to no success. There were three, deep, cuts on it.

"Amaya!"I saw Jake looking at me, terror in his eyes.

"I'm fine! Focus on the thanator!" Bullshit I'm fine, I was losing quite a bit of blood. It began to actually break some of the roots so we moved to our lefts. This thing is so persistent! It copied our movement and raked against the roots. Jake, scared out of his wits, began to shoot the thanator. It jumped and dodged the bullets somehow, but it came right back and grabbed the gun with it's mouth and threw it behind it. "We are screwed." I whispered to him.

"No, we're not." He took my hand again and ran from it. The thanator tackled us to the ground and Jake landed on top of me. So it took Jake by his backpack and swung him around. Jake, being the quick thinker that he is, unclasped himself from the pack and fell. "C'mon!" We started to run again, let me tell you, running while bleeding profusely from a wound is very painful and difficult, but I had so much adrenaline pumping through me, it didn't matter at the moment. It chased us to the edge of a cliff, a really high cliff and we looked at each other and jumped. When we hit the water, I went one way and Jake went another. I felt him reach out for me but I was carried down stream. It was one rocky ride, but at the waters started to calm so I could actually get to the shore. I pulled myself up and was gasping for breath. Maybe my dreams are kind of like premonitions. I looked at the injury on my leg, it looked awful. I pulled out some of the pages from the sketch pad and tore them into strips. They were fairly thick so they should cover the wound and stay on for awhile. I twisted the pant leg so it would hold it in place. Satisfied about my work, I stood up and looked for some kind of shelter. I noticed that it was getting darker and I could feel myself being watched. It was kind of an eerie feeling. I plopped myself down against a random tree and began to caress my wounded leg. I peeled off some of the paper and I almost barfed at what I saw. The outside of each scratch was starting to look purple in color and the edges were starting to excrete pus while the inside was turning to a black color. I went to tap it for some reason and I clenched my teeth in pain. There was no way that I was going to lay another layer of paper over it. Then again, that could be what infected it. I sat there. For what was probably an hour or two, just watching the light fade away and turn itself into night. Everything started to glow and the forest became alive with even more sounds than in the day. It would have been a wonderful experience if not for the wound and being watched. I felt myself dozing off a few times but I tried to keep myself awake. I did not succeed.

I was probably only asleep for what had to be half and hour when I felt a hand go over my mouth and some kind of blade go against my neck. My eyes snapped open and I stood up with the person that had the blade. It was a Na'vi male. I looked at the clothes and accessories that he was wearing and assumed that he was a very accomplished warrior. He was also quite handsome, if I do say so myself.

"**You should not be here.**" He whispered into my ear. I struggled to get my mouth free but it was to no avail. I felt him raise the blade that was previously against my neck up into the air to strike me down. I closed my eyes and waited for the blow. But it never came. I opened one eye and saw that on the tip of the blade was a wood sprite and more followed and they began to land on me. I looked at the warrior, he looked confused and frustrated. He put his blade back into its sheath and removed his hand. "**Come.**" He took my hand and he started to run but I immediately fell to the ground, holding my leg. He looked even madder than before. Not my fault that I can't run with an injured leg. He knelt down and examined it before taking out some leaves from some pouch thing on his waist and put them into his mouth. The warrior spit it into his hand and began to apply it to the cuts. I flinched when he put it on at first, but it seemed to have taken the pain away.

"**Thank you.**" His eyes widened at this, most likely because I could speak the language of the people. He nodded rigidly. He took me by the arm and stood me up and we began to run again. He took me to a group of other warriors and I could hear the protests that they expressed. He threw me onto his direhorse rather roughly and mounted it as well. Once he connected the queue, he let out a yell and it was repeated by the others and we took off into the night.

After about 15 minutes, I noticed some of the warriors break off into different directions and one of them started to spin through the air some kind of string that had a ball on each end. He threw it through the brush and I heard it hit something. We emerged from the trees and I saw that Jake had his hands in the air. I would be too if I had arrows pointed at me. But then another Na'vi, this time a female, jumps from above somewhere and starts shouting at them.

"**Calm people, calm.**" Yes, because saying that always works. The warrior that captured me got off and started to strut over to the woman. She then started to pace back and forth in between Jake and him. "**What are you doing Tsu'tey?**" Finally, a name, now I can stop calling him 'warrior'.

"**Demons like him are not permitted here.**" So I am okay then?

"**She is not permitted here either. There has been a sign from Eywa.**"How the hell could she see me?

"**Eywa has blessed her as well. This is a matter for the Tsahik.**" Oh boy. He glared at Jake for awhile and he then turned back to the glaring woman. "**Fine, bring him.**" When Tsu'tey reached the direhorse, he took me off of it and I landed on my bad leg, I yelped in pain. He tied my hands behind my back and brought me to another warrior and handed me off to him. Why are there so many guy warriors? Are there not any girls? That warrior took out his blade and held it against my braid. He then walked me over to Jake and I saw that he was in the same predicament that I was in. Tsu'tey mounted his horse and road off. He said something along the lines of "**We ride.**" and they took off with us following.

"Amaya, you're alive! Geez, I thought you were a goner!" Jake had shouted. Oh if my hands weren't tied up, I would have smacked him over the head.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Just don't resist and let me do the talking. Alright?" He nodded. "Say 'yes.'" I whispered fiercely.

"Yes! Geez." They led us to the biggest tree that I had ever seen. It was ginormous. We went underneath the roots and there were many other Na'vi there as well. They were pointing and staring at us, some of the braver ones actually reaching out and touching us. They touched Jake's skin, while they touched my hair. Creepy. Right then, the warrior that had been directing me untied my hands but then placed the blade back at my braid. I rubbed my wrists since they had bound them pretty tightly. We were also slightly behind the group since whatever Tsu'tey gave me was starting to wear off, the pain becoming ever more present. But, we were advancing toward what looked like the core of the tree and coming from the center of it was a spiral staircase. There at the base of it, was Tsu'tey and what looked to be the clan leader. Behind them was a skeleton head of what looked like a great leonopteryx. The woman that protected Jake brought Jake and I forward.

"**Father,**" that's her father? This should be interesting. He turned to face her. She stepped forward and brought two fingers to her forehead. "**I see you.**" I put a hand on Jake's shoulder to steady myself.

"You okay?" He whispered. I nodded slowly. "Liar." I let a small smile form on my lips. Her father then did a 360° around us.

"**These, creatures, why are they here?**" He asked his daughter and Tsu'tey.

"**I had intended on killing him, but there was a sign from Eywa.**" The man scowled, he turned back towards Tsu'tey.

"**The same with me.**" The mans scowl deepened even further. He turned back to face his daughter.

"**I said that no dreamwalker is allowed here.**"

"What's he saying?" I heard him say. The woman turned to face him

"My father is deciding whether to kill you or not." No he is not. Quit trying to scare us, mainly him.

"**Their alien smell fills my nostrils.**" He started to chuckle along with the rest of the clan.

"Your father. It's, uh, a pleasure to meet you sir." He walked toward him with his hand outstretched. All of the Na'vi near him reached out to stop him and I hit the ground because me support was gone. I was gripping my leg when someone grabbed me by the arm and stood me back up again. It was Tsu'tey. Makes sense since he found me and all that he would have to take care of me right?

"**Stand back!**" I saw a woman with red and yellow beads coming down the stairs. She had a kind of headband in her hair that had strings or yarn coming down form it and underneath her chin, they were attached to some wood is what it looked like. "**Let me have a look at these aliens.**"

"That is mother, she is Tsahik. She interprets the will of Eywa." Of course her mother would be the Tsahik, it would be fitting since her father is the leader.

"Who's Eywa?" Only Jake would ask that question. Then again, so would a lot of people back at Hell's Gate. She did the same thing as the leader did instead, she actually touched us. More specifically our braids and tails.

"What are you called?" The Tsahik asked us.

"Jake Sully." She then turned to face me.

"Amaya Saran." I said simply. She pulled out what looked like a tiny knife and pricked Jake on his chest and tasted the blood and did the same to me. Her eyes widened.

"Why are you here?" She asked us.

"**We came here to learn your ways.**" I answered back in fluent Na'vi. I heard a few gasps. I know, it's a total shocker that someone that has an avatar would actually learn the language of the native people. Because the language wouldn't be totally useful if you encountered natives.

"We have tried and failed to teach Sky People our ways. It is hard to fill a glass that is already full." She said while putting the knife back. Can we wrap this up? Me thinks me leg need medical attention.

"My cup is empty, trust me." I scoffed at what Jake said. That's for damn sure. "Ask Dr. Augustine. I am no scientist."

"Then what are you?" The lady asked.

"He was a Marine. They are basically warriors from the Jarhead Clan." I answered for him. This was taking way to long. He turned to look at me and gave me a funny look.

"**A warrior!**" I brought a hand up to my ear, you don't need to shout if he's right next to you Tsu'tey. "**I could easily take him.**"

"**No!**" Tsu'tey calmed by my side. "**This is the first warrior dreamwalker that we have seen. We need to learn more about him.**" Like dissecting him? I am all for that! I know that we are friends and all, but I kind of want to look at his brain as to see why he is so stupid and oblivious to certain things.

The leader then turned to me. "**What are you? Are you a warrior as well.**" He asked me.

I shook my head. "No, I am a xenologist. I am a person that studies the wildlife and the culture of, well, places that are unlike where we come from." This was a good enough answer, don't know how it was though, and the Tsahik began to talk again.

"**Daughter, you will teach him our ways. Teach him to walk, speak, and hunt as we do.**" There were sounds of protests from her but when the Tsahik raised a hand they stopped. You would be the one since you were the one who found him. He's your responsibility. "**Tsu'tey, you will teach Amaya. It appears she already knows the language. So, you need only to teach her to hunt and maybe walk as we do.**" I heard a grunt to my right and I groaned on the inside. He seems like someone who doesn't care about people that he doesn't like. She began to walk toward us. "My daughter will teach you our ways Jakesully." She then turned to me. "Tsu'tey will teach you Amaya." I nodded. How come Jake is Jakesully and I am just Amaya? I'm not complaining, just saying. She turned back to face the both of us. "Learn well. Then maybe, the insanity that you have will be cured." I hope that was more directed at Jake. At least I know a bit about the culture. The woman that found Jake escorted him up the staircase and I was just standing there, Tsu'tey holding me from falling. All the villagers including the leader, went their separate ways after the little meeting thing.

"**What do you call yourself?**" I asked the Tsahik. I was really get tired of calling her Tsahik. She turned and approached me.

"**I am called Mo'at.**" She looked down at my leg. I gave her an awkward smile. "**Tsu'tey, bring her to my room.**" He pulled my arm and three steps later, my face said hello to the ground. Mo'at turned back around and sighed. "**Carry her.**" I heard him give a little groan, but he picked me up and threw me over his left shoulder, my head banged against his back and he but his hand on the small of my back. I blushed from embarrassment, I feel so weak and incapable. We went up and up and up the tree. This thing is so high, I swear that at one point, I felt my ears pop. We turned to the right and went through a beaded curtain, and Tsu'tey laid me down on a mat with my back to the ceiling. I looked around and there were a bunch of wooden bowls that had leaves, some liquid, or some other thing lining the walls of the little room. I felt someone reaching the hem of my pants and I swatted there hand away.

"**Watch it!**" I yelled at the person. It turned out to be Tsu'tey which was even worse. "**What are you trying to do?**" I saw that Mo'at lean down beside me. In one hand, she had a bowl that was full of some blue mixture that had little chunks in it and in the other, she had some leaves.

"**He is only removing the clothes that are in the way. It would make it easier for me to get to the wound.**" I love how she said it with such ease, like it's something that is completely normal. I'm sure that people do that all the time here. Just kidding! I covered my face with my hands. Mo'at seemed to have noticed this. "**Are you crying?**" I shook my head, I was blushing so hard, I was sure that you would have noticed it even with my dark complexion.

"**Take it off then.**" Tsu'tey brought his fingers to the hem of my pants again, and he started to pull them down with a little bit of difficulty. It was pretty much skin tight leather, what did you expect? With a few more rough tugs, he had managed to get them off. It got kind of cold all of a sudden. I saw that Mo'at was getting ready to put the blue stuff on, I grabbed her arm to stop her. "**Will this hurt?**"

"**A little. But do not worry child. It will be over soon.**" That's comforting I guess. "**Ready?**" She asked, I nodded. "**Tsu'tey, hold her legs.**" I felt him grip my ankles and she put the blue stuff on quickly. I clenched my teeth together and groaned. After she applied that to the cuts, she laid on the leaves, which I only assumed were bandages. "**Done.**" I opened my apparently closed eyes, and sat up right. I looked down at my leg and it looked pretty good. Well, good for being bandaged. Mo'at helped me get up and I put a bit of weight on it. It didn't really hurt, it was more like a dull pressure. "**It looks fine. Now, it is time to get you some proper clothing.**" What's wrong with what I have on? She then looked toward Tsu'tey and he nodded. I swear if he is helping me, I am going to freak out. Inside of course. "**He will help you with that.**" Of course he would. Mo'at left to go who knows where and left us alone. Once again, he took me by the arm and drug me to another section of the tree. In there, were bins filled with clothes. He directed me to sit on the ground and wait. So I did and he rummaged through some of the bins and came back with a black leaf wrap thing and a black loin cloth thing. You have got to be kidding me.

"**You want me to wear this?**" He nodded. "**Fine.**" I stood up and he handed them to me. I looked for a place to change like a side room or a folding screen but there was none. "**Can you please turn around?**" I asked him shyly.

"**Why? What is there to be embarrassed about?**" Hmm, I wonder what it could be.

"**Never mind.**" So I turned around and started with my jacket and shirt. As I was taking it off, I could feel his eyes boring into my back. I decided to leave my bra on because it had more support, it was strapless, and I wouldn't want to be nipping out anytime soon. I picked up the leaf wrap and slipped it over my head and down to my waist. Then I pulled it back up, it barely covered my breasts. I think he chose these on purpose. I picked up the loin cloth and put that on first. I slipped my tail through some of the strings that were above it. I decided to turn around and take off my underwear because, well, he wouldn't really see as much. Once I did that, I took the bundled clothes and walked over to him. "**What do you want me to do with them.**" He took them and threw them off to the right. Well, I guess that was doing something.

"**Come.**" Tsu'tey motioned for me to follow him, so I did. We went up a few more levels and came to an opening. It looked like the entire clan was centered around the fire that was in the middle. Everything stopped however, the singing, music and dancing, when I came into few. I gave a little nod of my head to greet them. Tsu'tey was in front of me and I was told that I was sit with him. I walked behind him, being careful not to step on any of the tails there. I finally came to sit where I needed to and I sat down so quickly, that I was surprised that I didn't bruise something. Everything resumed to what was happening before. I was handed a plate of vegetable looking food and began to eat it. Soon, everything quieted again and I looked up and saw Jake and that one woman again. I saw that he was wearing a tan loin cloth and pretty much nothing else. It was actually really bothering me that he kept picking at his butt.

"G-good evening. No need to get up for me." That was so awkward that I swear that I almost started to cry. He was following her and he stepped on a few tails along the way. There was a little opening in the rings and she shoved him to a sitting position and she sat down next to him. After he was handed a plate, everything began again.

"**Amaya.**" I looked to my right, following Mo'at's voice. "**Tell me about your family.**" Oh boy. I didn't really want to show disrespect, so I would try to tell as little as possible.

"Is it okay if I say it in English?" I asked her and she nodded. "Well, I was born to Micheal Saran and Rachel Saran. I was their only child. My parents, were, um, complicated." She turned her head to the side, the motion said 'how so?.' I could tell that Tsu'tey, the clan leader, Jake, and that one girl were listening as well. "How do I put this, they loved but they hated me? They would shower me with love, but then they would abuse me." I started to rub the insides of my wrists. Jake noticed and he gave me a knowing look.

"What is this 'abuse' that they did?" That's right, there really is no word for 'abuse' in their language.

"It's when they intentionality hurt someone. I don't mean killing or anything like that, it's kind of like torture." I know that that was a word that they knew. I saw what looked like sadness in her eyes.

"Why would they do that?" She had asked the million dollar question.

"Who knows? I would be interested to know the answer." I let out a small sigh and gazed into the fire. I was vaguely aware what was going on around me, but when someone grabbed the inside of my wrists, I snapped back to reality. Mo'at was sitting in front of me, gazing at the cuts on my wrists. She was giving me a questioning look. "When ever they abused me, I would take some kind of sharp object and make a single cut on my wrist. I don't know why, but it always made me feel better." She looked like she had more questions but she didn't press further, I'm glad that she sensed that I didn't want to talk about me anymore. By this time, I noticed that almost everyone was gone around the circle. I yawned and so did Jake. I was pretty dark, more like pitch black, but with eyes like these, they help you see pretty well in the dark.

"**Amaya.**" I looked toward a standing Mo'at and I stood up as well. "**Tsu'tey will come and get you from my room early in the morning so be prepared to leave.**" I nodded and I saw that Jake was gone. I followed Mo'at back to her room and I laid down on the mat that I was on previously.

"**Can you tell me about your family?**" I asked her after a few minutes, she gave a soft smile and nodded.

"**My mate is Eytukan. He is the leader of the Omaticaya clan. He is very strong.**" I heard such love in her voice, it was really sweet. "**I had two daughters, only one is alive now.**" Her voice dimmed as she said this. It must be awful to be a parent and to lose someone that you brought into this world. I can imagine that there was a lot of grief. "**The one that is with Eywa was called Sylwanin. The one that helped your friend, is called Neytiri.**" I could tell that she wanted to end the conversation there. I would too if I mentioned my deceased child. I rolled over and closed my eyes. I saw colors galore.

"-aya. -maya. Amaya!" I heard someones voice and some bright light waving in my eyes. I blinked a few times and everything became clearer. It was Grace, Max, Norm, and Jake that were at beside my link bed. How did they all fit beside it? "You scared us for a second! We weren't too sure if you would have made it back as clean as Jake did. But you did better than him!" She seemed to be in a much more cheery mode with Jake. I glanced at Norm and he looked pissed. Max helped me sit up and I groaned. Seems like the beds weren't comfy enough for all day laying. "Don't worry, we know that your avatar is safe and where they are at. You are one lucky son of a bitch let me tell you." We all laughed at that. "Now, it's time for everyone to hit the hay. Village life starts early so you might as well get some shut eye now." I nodded and went to my room. I, being exhausted, didn't change out of my clothes and just plopped down on the bed. I glanced at my right leg. I wonder. I pulled up the pant leg and there was no cut to be seen. Of course, so the cuts that I have on my wrist make it onto my avatar body, yet any damage that my avatar takes doesn't affect me? Totally makes sense. This was a sing myself to sleep kind of night, so I soften sung my favorite lullaby, '_Beautiful Dreamer.'_

'_Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,_

_Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;_

_Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day._

_Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!_

_Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,_

_List while I woo thee with soft melody;_

_Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,_

_Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!_

_Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!'_

_'Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea_

_Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie;_

_Over the streamlet vapors are borne,_

_Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn._

_Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,_

_E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;_

_Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,_

_Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!_

_Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!' _I finished the last word very soft. I then drifted off into the land of dreams and for the first time, the nightmare butterflies didn't come. They gave me a break and I dreamed of nothing.

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How was it? Please let me know. Because remember: I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My readers you'll be. If you know where that is from, kuddos to you. P.S. The _Beautiful Dreamer_ poem is by, well I think it's by Stephen C. Foster. I am not really sure, I just Googled 'lullabies' and that came up. Pretty don't you think? Okay I am going to quit rambling on now. Remember to review! PEACE


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